Sophia has a veritable utility belt at this point. she has her sword, a handgun, a few knives, as well as some other doohickeys. I run into the same problem as Zyrusticae; there's no way to represent my character the way I'd like to. And that's alright; I've run into plenty of people who have the same issue. Its convinced me not to take anything at face value, until the player proves that the case.
Otherwise, I think classes roles in general are a great starting place. While sort of shallow on their own, they do provide a nice base of advantages/disadvantages/problems/whatever for your character to work with. The interesting part is how your character chooses to overcome or not overcome those challenges. Take Sophia for example. She's a tried-and-true, third eye-having (hidden, of course!) Garlean agent. That alone says a lot about her, but its how she handles it and does with it that says more.
Otherwise, I think classes roles in general are a great starting place. While sort of shallow on their own, they do provide a nice base of advantages/disadvantages/problems/whatever for your character to work with. The interesting part is how your character chooses to overcome or not overcome those challenges. Take Sophia for example. She's a tried-and-true, third eye-having (hidden, of course!) Garlean agent. That alone says a lot about her, but its how she handles it and does with it that says more.